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| School Name: | Belmont University |
| Location: | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Arena: | Curb Event Center |
| Capacity: | 5,085 |
| Conference: | MVC |
| Head coach: | Casey Alexander |
The Belmont Bruins Basketball team is the basketball team that represent the Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. The school's team currently competes in the Missouri Valley Conference. The team's most recent appearance in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament was in 2019. The Bruins are currently coached by Casey Alexander.
NCAA Tournament Results[]
The Bruins have appeared in eight NCAA Tournaments, and qualified for a ninth that was not played. Their combined record is 1-8.
In 2006, their first NCAA Tournament appearance ever, the Bruins lost against UCLA.
In 2007 they lost to Georgetown University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
In the 2008 tournament, the #15 seeded Bruins, playing in the West Region, played an exciting, hard-fought first round game with a perennial powerhouse, the #2 seeded Duke Blue Devils. The Bruins came up one point short of the upset, losing the game 71-70 after Justin Hare's desperation three point attempt barely went wide left of the net. The Bruins rallied from 9 point and 7 point deficits in the second half to take a 70-69 lead late in the game, before Duke scored what proved to be the game's final basket with under a minute left to play.
In 2009 The Bruins won their first post-season game against the University of Evansville in the CIT.
In 2010 Belmont University won the Atlantic Sun Regular Season Championship for the third time in four years. However, due to the Atlantic Sun Tie breaker the Bruins did not receive a bid to the NIT after losing in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament.
In 2011 Belmont University won the Atlantic Sun Regular Season Championship and the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. The Bruins finished 30-4 overall (marking their first 30 win season in the NCAA era) and 19-1 in conference play. By doing this they received their highest seed in their history, a #13. They faced the #4 seed Wisconsin Badgers in the second round of the Southeast Region, where they lost 72-58.
They again won the ASUN regular-season and tournament championships in 2012, finishing 27–6, and entered the NCAA tournament as a 14 seed, losing 74–59 to 3 seed Georgetown in the Midwest Region.
The 2012–13 season began a new era for Belmont basketball as the school joined the Ohio Valley Conference, a league headquartered in the Nashville suburb of Brentwood and also a much better geographic fit for the school. During the press conference in which Belmont announced it was joining the OVC, the school's athletic director noted that the Bruins' shortest conference road trip in their final ASUN season was longer than the longest trip necessary in the OVC. The Bruins won their OVC division crown as well as the OVC tournament in their first season in their new league, with a new school-record NCAA tournament seed of 11. However, they again lost in the first round, this time 81–64 to 6 seed Arizona in the West Region.
Their next NCAA tournament appearance came two seasons later, with OVC divisional and tournament titles. This time, they were seeded 15th in the East Region, losing 79–67 to second seed Virginia.
In 2019, which proved to be Rick Byrd's final season as head coach, the Bruins shared the regular-season conference title with Murray State, led by consensus All-American and current Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant. Though Belmont lost in the OVC tournament final to Morant's Racers, the Bruins earned their first at-large NCAA tournament berth in their Division I history, equaling their top tournament seed of 11. They entered in the First Four against Temple, and won 81–70 for their first Division I tournament win. The Bruins narrowly lost 79–77 in the first round to Maryland, the East Region 6 seed. Immediately after the tournament, Byrd announced his retirement after 33 seasons; he was replaced by Casey Alexander, who had previously been the head coach at Belmont's archrival of Lipscomb.
In Alexander's first season with the Bruins, they again shared the OVC regular-season title with Murray State, but this time defeated the Racers in the OVC tournament final. However, the NCAA tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Year | Result |
|---|---|
| 2006 | First Round (UCLA 78-44) |
| 2007 | First Round (Georgetown 80-55) |
| 2008 | First Round (Duke 71-70) |
| 2011 | Second Round (Wisconsin 72-58) |
Chants and Traditions[]
Belmont 'Til I Die
Belmont 'til I die!
I'm Belmont 'til I die!
I know I am, I'm sure I am,
I'm Belmont 'til I die!''
Super Scottie Saunders
Sung to the tune of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" (or "Glory Glory Man United", if you like), whenever center Scott Saunders scores, blocks, rebounds, etc.:
Suuuuuper, super Scottie Saaauunders! Suuuuuper, super Scottie Saaauunders! Suuuuper, super Scottie Saaaauunders! And the Bruins go marching on on on!
Carrot
Also, it is a well-known fact that Belmont's got Carrot.